Spring Blossoms
by timelessS2clois
Summary: This story is in Spring, and now it's a love-square between college students Van, Hitomi, Allen, and Millerna. Read full summary insideVH REVISED
1. Introduction

This story is called Spring Romance, my second attempt of an Escaflowne Fic. Once again, it is in Hitomi's point of view, but the story's very different from the other one. The setting takes place in a university in Canada. I'm a Filipino, but I live in Canada, so I'm sorry to all those who were thinking that it was set in Japan. I have no clue on the cities or schools in that country. 

I need all the readers to know that many of the things from the show or movie have been changed. Nothing seems to be the same, except for maybe the characters. There are no such things as guymelefs and magic in my stories. Just to make sure. Many of the facts are probably wrong, but no matter. If you see any errors or misplaced words, just ignore them and try to make sense with it. 

============================================================================================================

**Full summary: **

Van, Hitomi, Allen and Millerna are in college! Hitomi and Millerna are roommates while Van and Allen are too. Instead of a love-triangle, there's a love-square going on, with Allen and Hitomi going out, and Millerna having interest in Van, but Van not caring at all. Many major things happen, but read it and find out!! 

~V+H and a little bit of A+M~

============================================================================================================

**Introduction: **

I was 22 years old and was going to graduate from college in the end of that year. The sky was beginning to brighten as the sun lightly shone through the clouds. Everyone was still sleeping from exhaustion of last night's spring exams. We had 4 days until Spring break, which was something I myself couldn't wait for. 

===========================================================================================================

**_*RayAllen34*_**


	2. Part 1

Part 1 

I got up and went over to my boyfriend, whose dorm room was 2 floors away. I still wore my pj's of course, but no one was out in the hallways, so I guessed it was all right. I pressed the elevator button and went to the 12th floor, where he was in. I walked to the 1202 room and knocked. 

He finally opened after 2 sets of knocking. "What?" He asked me, his eyes drooping. 

I grinned. "Let me in." I pushed him through, so I could go in. 

"Hitomi, it's only 5:00…why are you here??" He yawned. 

"Because. Is it my fault if I missed my boyfriend?" I teased and went to the kitchen. 

"Yeah. We only saw each other last night." 

"Geez. I thought you'd actually be happy to see me." 

"Not when I'm sleeping." 

"Grouchy." 

"You should've known that by now." 

I rolled my eyes and got out a cookie. "My roommate's still sleeping and I remembered that you had food, so…" 

"Ah, food." He shook his head. "It's all Van's, you know that, right?" 

"I know, I know, but he won't mind." 

"You sure about that?" 

"Uh-huh." I grinned. "If he doesn't know, he won't mind, all right?" 

Allen walked over to me and lightly kissed me on the cheek. "When you're done, pack it up and go back to bed, ok?" 

"No thanks." I got out some water. 

"Whatever." He shook his head. "I gotta go back to sleep." 

"Ok. Night Schezar." 

"Schezar?" A deep voice from behind called. 

I turned around and saw Van. His hair was always wild that when he woke up, it looked the same. I felt guilty for thinking he looked so handsome. 

"Yes, what about it?" I asked. 

"Schezar's a bad last name." He grinned. 

"Shut up, man." Allen muttered. "I'm going back to sleep. Leave me alone, both of you." 

I continued to eat as Allen went back in the room. Van walked over to me. "What the hell are you doing eating MY food?" He tried to take the cookies from me. 

"As far as I can remember, the rules are, you and your roommate share everything." I said a matter-of-factly. 

"That's right, so MY roommate and me. Now, the question is, are YOU my roommate?" 

I scrunched my face at him. "No. Your roommate is MY boyfriend, so I think it counts." 

"FYI, it doesn't." He gave me a smug and got the cookies. 

"Come on Van! I'm hungry!" I pleaded. "Millerna doesn't even have anything compared to what you guys have!!" 

"That's because your roommate's an anorexic. Now, guys need to eat in order to live." He went to the living room and turned on the TV.

"My roommate is not anorexic. She just wants to diet, that's all." I followed suit and sat beside him. "Come on Van, please let me eat some." 

He looked at me for a long time. "Fine." He handed me the cookies. 

"Yay!" I hugged him briefly. 

"Yeah, yeah." He pushed me away.

"You know what?" I put in a cookie in my mouth. "You should get a girlfriend." 

"I'm getting there." 

"Hey, how about I partner you up with Millerna? The four of us could go on dates or something!" 

"I'm not interested in your roommate, all right? I already told you. She's too thin for me." 

"So what? You want someone fat?" Trying not to sound rude or anything. 

"No problem with that. I'd rather have a chubby girl than a too-thin girl any day." 

"That's nice." 

"That's my principles." 

"You and your principles." I shook my head. "You want me to set you up?"

He laughed. "No." 

"Why not?" I pouted at him. 

"You're not a guy." 

"I can see that." I glared. 

He looked at me again. "You don't know my type of girls, so how are you supposed to get a girl that I'll like?" 

"Easy. Tell me everything you want from a girl." 

He seemed to think about it until, "nah." 

"Van, you suck, you know that?" I got up and got my water from the kitchen. 

I went back over to him. "What's the big deal with this setting up thing anyway?" 

"I don't know." I shrugged. "It'd be cool if Allen and I went on a double date with you and whoever your girl would be." 

"Who said I wanted to go with you?" 

I stood up in disbelief. "You're so mean!!"  

"I'm kidding." He laughed, and took my hand and pulled me back down.

I glanced at the TV and started to drink my water until he stopped me. "What?" I asked as I looked at him. 

"Give me some, will you?"

"Yeah, ok. Just wait." I took a sip and handed him the glass. 

He drank some. "Thanks." 

"You're welcome." I grinned. "Listen, tell Allen I'll talk to him later in class, ok? I'm going to go back." I walked to the door. 

"Ok." He nodded. "See ya." 

"Lock your door." I called. 

"No thanks." He called back. 

I went back to the couch and pulled him up. "Come on Van…" 

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He sighed and stood up. 

"Bye!" I waved at him as I got out of their room. 

"Later." He closed the door and locked it behind me. 

***

I got back to my room and Millerna was already awake. She was cooking her own breakfast. "Hey." 

She glanced at me. "Where were you?" 

"Oh I went over to Allen and Van's." I looked at my bed.

"Hey…" 

"What?" I looked at her. 

She hesitated. "Did Van say anything about me?" 

My eyes widened. "Oh, um…" 

She shook her head. "I-I…I kind of like him." 

"I can see that." I mumbled. I didn't know why, but I felt jealous. 

"So…do you think maybe…he likes me too?" 

"Um…" I walked over to her. "Millerna, uh…" 

"Tell me, Hitomi." She nudged. 

"He doesn't like you that way." I told her quietly. "I'm so sorry, Millerna." 

"Oh." She looked away. "That's ok." 

"I'm really sorry." 

"It's ok, honest." She smiled sadly. 

I glanced somewhere else. "Listen, I have to go get ready, ok?" 

"Yeah ok." She nodded. "Thanks for telling me." 

"I'm so sorry." 

"Stop apologizing." She pushed me. "Go." 

I nodded back and left the kitchen. 

***

In first class, I had Allen and Van with Millerna. I went with her and we headed to the class. I glanced in and saw Allen sitting in the back two seats beside Van. I walked over quickly. 

"Hey." I smiled at him. "Hi Fanel." 

Van glanced at me and looked away. 

I frowned. "Does it hurt to say hi?" 

He sighed. "Hey Hitomi." 

I smiled proudly. 

"Hey babe." Allen smiled back. "Hey Millerna." 

"Hey Allen." She grinned. "H-hi, Van." 

I watched Van's reaction. "Oh hey Millerna." He gave a small smile. 

I threw a glare at him and he looked at me saying, 'what?' 

My seat was in front of Van and Millerna's was in front of Allen. I asked the teacher to have me sit in front of Allen, but he wouldn't let it. I turned back around to face Van. 

"You are so rude." 

"Why??" He looked at me with a confused look. 

I started talking, but the teacher came in. "Ugh, you can't even see it, you big dumbass." 

"Oh I'm the dumbass." He replied. 

I leaned on my chair and hit him with my elbow. 

"Ow!" He yelped out quietly. 

He leaned forward and pinched my waist. 

I squealed silently and glared at him. "Jerk." 

"Idiot." 

The teacher looked at Van and I and we both reddened with embarrassment. 

***

After class, Allen went over to me. "Babe, I gotta go, ok? I'll see you later." 

"Why?" 

"Project. I gotta go." He kissed me briefly. 

I didn't like his sudden rush. "Oh, ok. Bye." 

"Yeah, I have to go too. I'm in his class." Millerna smiled. "See you later Hitomi. Van." She left too.

I looked at him. "Great." I muttered. "Are you leaving me too?" 

He chuckled. He didn't say anything, but just walked out of the room. I growled inwardly and followed him out of the room. 

"Van, wait!" I called and ran over to him. "Do you have a class now?" 

"No, it's my free block." 

"Good, me too." I pulled on his arm. 

He wouldn't budge. "What are you doing?" 

"Let's go up to your dorm." 

"Why?"

"You've got the food and I've got something to tell you." 

He sighed. "No, I'm going to the library." 

"Why??" I whined. 

"I got a date with someone." He replied sarcastically. "What do you think?" 

"Come on, this'll be quick."

"Quick as in?" 

"Quick as in 1 hour." 

"How the hell is that quick?" 

"It just is!" I replied. "Come on!!" 

***

  
He let me pull him and we went up the elevator. "You know something I noticed?" 

"What's that?" 

"You and Allen don't seem too romantic these days." He said. 

"Yeah well." I shrugged it off. "We've got problems, ok?" 

"Problems?" 

"Yes, relationship problems." 

"Tell me what." 

"Why are you so interested in it?" I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stared at him. 

"Don't know." He muttered. "It's just that…" He glanced at me. "He's changed somehow." 

"That's because he's not in love with me anymore." I retorted. 

He was taken aback. "What??" 

"That's right. Can we drop the subject? I have to talk to you about something else anyway." I didn't want to talk about it, because just thinking of it made me feel like crying.

I watched him give me that concerned look. "Uh…all right." He seemed to be thinking of something. "Sorry." 

I shook my head. "It's ok." 

***

We got to his dorm and I let him twist the key and open it. I got in and ran to the foods. He laughed at me. 

"For a thin girl, you sure love to eat." He commented. 

"It's called high metabolism." I called to him. 

He laughed. "Whatever you say."  

I got potato chips and walked over to his room where he was. "Let me ask you something." 

"What?" He was sitting on his chair doing something on the computer. 

I sat on his comfy bed. "Why don't you clean up your room?" 

"That's your question?" He glanced at me. 

"No stupid." I looked around. "I'm just saying." 

"Yeah well, I'll clean it up later." 

"Fine, fine." I looked out the window. "How come you don't like Millerna?? Can't you just…see through her appearance?" I asked abruptly

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Why?" 

"I-I-I…I'm just asking." I looked back at him and smiled innocently. 

"If you're trying to set us up again…" He warned. 

"No, nothing…nothing like that." I said. "It's just that, um, she likes you." 

"She does?" 

"Yeah. She wants to date you." 

"Oh." He looked a little puzzled. "Why?"

"I'm just as stunned. What does she see in you?" I joked.  

He threw a pillow at me.

"I'm kidding!!" I laughed and threw the pillow back at him, but it fell on the carpet. 

He laughed with me. "You throw like a girl!" 

I frowned. "I am a girl!" 

"Sure you are!" 

"Van!!" I got up and punched him on his arm. "Oh geez." He had a muscled arm. That made me…nervous.

"Haha!" He took a hold of my wrist and pulled me. 

"Aah!" I let out a small squeal. I lost my balance and fell on his lap. My face was 2 inches away from him. I swallowed quietly and stared at his gorgeous ruby eyes. 'Oh no…' He seemed to be staring at my eyes too. Thoughts struck my mind and I think it did on his too, because we both pulled away. 

I closed my eyes and climbed back on his bed. I was dazed and I had no idea what was happening to me. "Van…" I mumbled. His name sounded so perfect when I said it. I turned around to face him. 

He looked at me dazedly. "Yeah?" 

"Um…" I completely forgot what I was talking about. 

"Uh…" He started as well. 

I continued to eat the chips. He smirked at me. "What?" I glared lightly. 

"Still eating." 

"Of course. Why should I waste a perfectly good junk food?" 

He laughed. 

I then remembered. "Oh yeah, um, will you just ask her out?" 

"Who?" 

"Millerna." 

"Oh her." He looked at me. "Sorry, but no thanks." 

"Van…" I gave him a sad look. "Why not??" 

"I'm not interested in her, ok?" 

"Are you interested in someone else??" 

He hesitated. "Maybe…" 

"Oh." I stopped. "Oh ok." Once again, I felt jealous. 

"So just tell her to stop liking me, cause I'll never like her." 

I growled under my breath. "Fine, fine." 

"Thank you." 

I put the chips down. "Hey." 

"What?" 

"Could I clean your room?" I asked him shyly. 

"Say what?" 

I blushed heavily. "Can I…?" 

"Why?" 

"Your room is too dirty." I complained. 

"You should see your boyfriend's. It's worse than mine." 

"What??" I practically yelled and ran to his. 

***

The room was full of dirty laundry. Clothes were everywhere from clean to dirty. The bed wasn't made, the window was opened, and the closet was opened. Shoes were scattered on the floor along with books and papers. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. 'Don't get mad. Don't get mad. Van's here, so you can't get mad.' I completely couldn't keep it in and, "AAAAHH!" 

"Whoa!" I heard Van's footsteps and he stood beside me. "What's wrong with you?"

"That no good son of a-!" I started. 

"Whoa, hey." He stopped me. "So it's a little messy. Big deal." 

"Little messy??" I asked angrily. "LITTLE MESSY??" 

"All right, so very messy, but he's a guy. You should expect that from him." Van replied. 

Tears brimmed my eyes. "I took 4 freakin' hours cleaning his room and this is how he repays me??" I cried furiously. "How could Allen do this???" 

"Hitomi, relax! It's only a room!" He looked at me worriedly. 

I shook my head and kicked at his clothes. "You don't understand!" 

"What don't I understand?" 

"I cleaned his room because I was so in love with him!! I thought he would actually appreciate the four hours I spent in here!! It was summer, ok?? There were only so few people in this damn school! Allen was back in his hometown and he gave me the keys here!!" 

"He did?" 

I stopped. "Uh…well…" 

"Keep going." He interrupted. 

I frowned heavily. "Anyway, I spent 4 hours cleaning this freakin' room for him!! He wanted me to clean his room and being as stupid as I was, I did!!" 

"Stop yelling so loud." Van patted me. 

"Sorry." I muttered. "When he came back from vacation, he acted so grateful and thankful. He even promised that he'd keep it clean for me. And that he owed me a lot for doing it. Now I hate him so much!" 

"Don't forget that he is still your boyfriend, ok?"

I wiped away the small teardrops. "I'm not even going to try." I stood up and walked back to Van's room. He followed me. 

"Sorry." He said to me as I sat on his bed. 

"For what? You're not the one who wasted my time for nothing." I muttered. 

"If it makes you feel any better, you can clean my room." He offered. 

I looked up at him with slightly red eyes. "You're going to mess it up." 

"Mine is a hell of a lot cleaner than his." He grinned and walked over to me. 

"You promise not to mess it up?" I asked him quietly. 

He wiped away the stray tears. "Promise." 

I looked into his eyes to see if he was telling the truth. "Ok." I smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Van!" 

"I'm just trying to make you feel better." He hugged me back and pushed me away. "All right, so get working." 

"All right!" I stood up and started on his bed. 

He stayed in the room, but it was okay with me. We still had another hour to waste until the next block. 

***

"Hey, tell me something." Van spoke. 

"What?" I asked back, cleaning up the mess. 

"I don't mean to be nosey or anything, but…what'd you mean when you said Allen's not in love with you anymore?"

I stopped what I was doing. "Um…" 

"Sorry." He mumbled. "You don't have to answer." 

"No, it's ok." I replied and continued with what I was doing. "You should know anyway." 

"Oh. All right." 

I started to think. "I-I…I guess he stopped liking me a couple months ago. We went to this place for a date and…and he wouldn't just concentrate on me. Whenever girls passed by, he'd always stare at them. I told him about it, but he said that he was just glancing around." I felt the tears come back again. "The next month after that, he told me that he didn't want to walk me back to my dorm at night, because he had work. Millerna told me that he might be dating someone behind my back, but I didn't believe it. I was too in love to see it." 

"You can stop now if you want." Van said quietly. 

"No, I want to say this all out." I interrupted. "I need to hear it out loud anyway." I hesitated. "I don't like to be cuddling or kissing in public, but it's okay with me if it was once in a while. But he never did it anymore. He…I noticed that he…well…he tried to avoid kissing me. He went for my cheeks to say that he still had feelings for me, but still." 

Van kept quiet, but stared at me. 

"The last thing he did that made me feel so…not loved…was…he forgot my birthday." By that time, tears leaked out. "It's okay with me to not get presents or to not have a celebration or anything…but…" I closed my eyes and turned around. "When my boyfriend forgets, it hurts a lot. Millerna gave me a gift and even threw a surprise party for me with some of our girlfriends. But…he…he…" I sobbed. "He didn't even once talk to me that day. I tried to look for him, but he wasn't here!" I wiped away my tears. "I pretended like everything was okay, but it wasn't." 

"I'm sorry. I forgot too." He mumbled. 

I turned back around to face him. "You didn't know and it doesn't matter." 

"Still…" He paused. "I can't believe Allen did that to you." He stood up and started walking over to me. 

"Yeah well." I shrugged. "I don't think I'm in love with him anymore either." 

"So why are you guys still dating?" He inquired.

"I don't know." I looked down at the floor. "I guess Allen's just… I don't know." 

"He hasn't tried to break up with you or anything?" 

"No." I shook my head. "I think he's just trying to hide the fact that he's not interested in me anymore by kissing me shortly or…or being sweet sometimes. It's so obvious when it's just the two of us. You even heard him when he wanted to go back to sleep this morning. He almost made it sound like it was my fault he was losing his sleep." I sniffed. 

The next thing I knew, Van had wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him. I didn't mind at all and I just let him hold me. I put my arms around him and sobbed on his chest. After a few minutes, I was able to stop crying and pull away from him, which was pretty hard.

We heard the bell ring outside. "Oh shit." Van swore. 

"Oh my god, I don't even have my stuff with me." I started panicking. 

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Van and I walked over and he opened it. It was a guy a few years younger than us. 

"Sorry about that. We were just testing the new bells, so don't be alarmed." He notified and left.

Van closed the door. "Phew." 

I laughed and went back in. "Geez." 

"So you're okay?" Van asked me as we got back in his room. 

I sat on the bed. "I guess so." I replied. "Hey, could you do me a favour?" 

"Sure, what?" 

I fidgeted. "Could you, um…" I hesitated. "Well…could you ask Allen if he still loves me?" 

"So bring the subject up?" 

"Yeah." 

"Yeah all right." He stared at me. "Are you sure you'll be ok if I tell you what he says?" 

"Well, first of all, it depends on what he says, but…I don't know. If it's not good, just briefly explain it in the best way you can." 

"I will." 

"Thank you." 

"No problem." 

"I know I'm being a snoop and stuff, but-"

"It's fine." He said. "Trust me." 

I nodded. "Ok…" 

***

The night after that, someone knocked on our dorm. "I'll get it." I announced and headed to the door. I opened and saw Van standing there. "Hey." I brightened at just seeing him. 

"Hey." He gave me a small smile. "Can I come in?" 

"Uh…" I glanced at Millerna. "Let's just go somewhere." 

"Ok." I got my jacket. "Millerna, I'm going out, ok?" 

"Ok!" She called from the living room. 

***

We went out in the streets. "I feel like I've never seen the streets for a long time." I breathed in the warm spring air. 

Van took a deep breath. "I gotta tell you what Allen said." 

"You talked to him…?" I asked quietly. 

"Yeah." He paused. "Uh…" 

***Allen and Van's conversation***

_"Hey man." Allen got in. "I heard Hitomi was here." _

_"Yeah she was. She cleaned my room." Van grinned. "Oh yeah, and uh_…_" _

_"Oh no, did she see my room??" _

_"Yep." _

_"Shit, what'd she say?" _

_"Freaked out." _

_"God…" _

_"Allen, can I ask you something?" _

_"Yeah, what?" Allen looked at Van lazily. _

_"You still in love with her, man?" _

_Allen's eyes widened. "Uh…" Allen sat beside Van on the couch. "Uh_…_well…I don't know." _

_"You don't know?" _

_He looked down at the carpet. "I gotta be honest with you_…_I-I…I uh…__I don't love her anymore."_

_Van looked taken aback. "Why?" _

_He shrugged. "I'm in love with Millerna." _

_"What??"_

_"Yeah, man." Allen shook his head. "I'm planning to break up with Hitomi after Spring Break." _

_"Allen, what the hell? Are you being a lame ass??" _

_He looked away and stood up. "Look, I've been with her for 2 years now! I…I…" _

_"So what if you're with her for 2 years?? Are you saying you're BORED??" _

_"Yeah." Allen glanced away. "Why? Did she say anything about it?" _

_ "Actually yeah…she told me that you forgot her birthday." _

_"It was an honest mistake!! I had exams that day! She understood!" _

_"Yeah said she understood, but how could you do that?? To your own girlfriend??" _

_"I'm sorry all right?" Allen sighed angrily. "That was stupid I know!" _

_"Did you really forget it?" Van asked in a deep voice. _

_"Yes I did! You think I don't even care about her feelings?? I was in love with her, Van!" _

_"So why not now??" _

_"I don't know, all right?! I asked myself that question so many times, but I'm not in love with her anymore!" _

_"Break up with her now." He ordered. _

_"B-but…" _

_"Tomorrow, all right?" _

_"I can't, man. She's in love with me." Allen looked very troubled. _

_"Allen, break up with her, man." _

_"I won't." _

***Normal POV***

Tears dropped down my cheeks to my shirt. "So he really doesn't love me anymore." I mumbled. 

"I'm sorry, babe." He pulled me close to him. 

I hugged him tightly. "I hate him!! I hate him so much!!" I cried, but it sounded muffled. 

***

The next afternoon, I walked to the elevator and pushed the button. I waited a while until the elevator came. It opened and revealed…Allen. "Hitomi." 

"Oh my god…" I mumbled.

"I need to talk to you." 

"O-ok." 

 "Let's go." He attempted to grab my arm.  

I pulled away and got in the elevator with him. "So what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked casually. 

"I have to tell you the truth." 

"Really?" I glanced up. 'Remember, he doesn't know Van told you…' "Oh ok." 

"Hitomi…" He walked over to me and held my hands. 

The elevator opened. I pulled away from him and saw that Van was there. "Hey guys." He tried to ease the uncomfortable silence. "So I see the elevator's busy." 

"You can come in if you want." I almost hissed. 

"No thanks." He laughed nervously. 

"Get in here." I pulled him in. 

"Ha, ok." He looked at Allen and then at me. "So…where you guys going?" 

"We're going to talk." Allen said firmly. "Van could've gotten another elevator. Why did you put him in here?" 

"Because." I said coolly.

I looked away and then I felt the elevator stop. "Whoa." I squeaked out. "What's going on??" I asked helplessly. 

"Relax." Van said beside me. "I stopped it." 

"Why?" I glared at him. 

"You need to sort out your problems now. I'm not gonna be the one between it." 

I gulped. "Are you going to stay and listen?" 

"Since I can't get out, what do you think?" 

I shot him an annoyed glare. "Fine."  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	3. Part 2

Part 2 

Allen was staring at Van and me. "Hitomi." 

"What?" I snapped. "Oh, sorry." 

He ignored it. "There's something I have to tell you." 

"What is it?" 

"Uh…" He looked at Van. "Uh…" 

I kept quiet. 

"The thing is…um…" 

"Spill it." Van said angrily beside him. 

Allen's eyes turned cloudy. "The thing is…I'm sorry…" 

I felt the tears. Oh yeah. "About what?" My voice, I knew, was starting to quiver. 

"I'm in love with Millerna." 

When he said it himself, it sounded like a knife just struck my heart. "Oh." I turned away from both of them. 

"And, uh…" I heard him take a deep breath. "I want to break up." 

"Oh." I murmured once again. 

The place was quiet and hushed. I knew I couldn't keep the tears in. I cried freely and felt my shoulders shaking. Someone was coming over to me, but I stopped him, whoever it was. "Don't go near me right now." 

"I'm so sorry, Hitomi…" 

"Don't give me that." I said through gritted teeth. "Don't give me that!" I cried. 

"All right, I won't." 

I turned back around and faced him. "You do not have the right to do this to me!!" I yelled. "You can't just break my heart like this! I trusted you to take care of me! To love me as much as I loved you!! And I hate you! I hate you for throwing that in my face!! And…and…" I sobbed and gulped. "Y-you can't do this to me…" 

"Look, I loved you, Hitomi. I did, so much…but…" 

"You just got bored of me." 

"N-not…no…" 

I paused. "I don't hate you, Allen…I loved you so much…and it just hurts." 

"I'm really sorry." 

I shook my head. "Please don't..." 

"Ok…I-I…" 

"You don't apologize for something you intend to do." I glanced away and looked at Van. His eyes were full of compassion and…and concern. "Can you open the elevator? I want to go back to my dorm." 

He watched me and said, "ok." 

He pressed the 'stop' button again and it worked. The elevator stopped on the nearest floor and I got out as fast as I could. 

***Allen and Van's conversation***

_"God that sucked." Allen muttered. _

_"I can't believe you, Allen." Van replied. "I can't believe you hurt her that much." _

_He kept quiet. _

_"So what are you gonna do now?" _

_"I don't know." He shook his head. "I really don't know." _

_"Let's go back up, huh?" _

_"Yeah." He said grudgingly. _

***Normal POV***

I opened the door to our dorm and walked to the bathroom. I washed my face up and wiped. I got out and walked to the living room where Millerna was. 

"Hey, what happened?" Millerna asked concernedly. 

I smiled ruefully. "I broke up with Allen." 

"You did?" 

"Yeah." I glanced away. "It's ok." 

She walked over to me and rubbed my back. "I'm sorry, Hitomi." 

"It was no one's fault." I put my head down on the couch spine. "I just wish I didn't fall in love with him and get hurt like this." 

"But you know that love hurts…you were warned, remember?" 

"Yeah I know." I sighed. "Anyway…" 

"It'll be okay. Allen's not the only guy in this world." 

"I see that." I giggled. 

She laughed. "Besides, I want to tell you that I am not interested in Van anymore." 

"You're not?" I asked, surprised. 

"Nope." She grinned. "He's interested in someone else, and besides…I've taken a liking to another guy." She blushed. 

"Is it anyone I know?" 

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you." 

"How come?" 

"You'll get mad at me for…liking him. I have no intention of dating him. I just………I'm just…" 

"Is it Allen?" I asked pensively. 

"I'm so sorry." Millerna buried her face on my back. 

I patted her. "It's ok, Millerna. You're entitled to your own feelings." I smiled at her. "I think you should date him." 

"No. No…" 

"I think you want to." 

"I-I…I…" She started. "No, because I value our friendship more than I value him." 

"That's so sweet, Millerna." I hugged her. "You're the best friend a girl could ever have." 

"You too, Hitomi." 

I looked at her. "I want to tell you something. We broke up in the elevator and Van was there." 

"How did that happen?" She asked. 

"Wait. The first thing, well the second thing that Allen told me…was he was in love with you." 

Her eyes widened. "What??" Her cheeks turned so pink it was adorable. "You're kidding me." 

"I'm not. He said, I'm so sorry…and then he said that he loves you." 

"Gosh I feel so horrible." Millerna stood up. "I am not the best friend a girl could have. I am the worst." She said quietly. 

"No you aren't!" I insisted. "I'm glad that he loves you and not some bimbo in this school." 

She frowned. "But Hitomi, I feel like…I feel like I'm taking your man…" 

"Don't. He's not mine anymore." I glanced down at my hands. 

***

The rest of the night pretty much went like that. Millerna and I talked it over. As much as I hated facing the girl Allen dumped me for………she was still my best friend and nothing could change that ever. 

***

It was the first day of Spring Break. I found out that Millerna was planning to go home. All the plans that I made to go back home and surprise my family went down the drain. I didn't feel like leaving the school. I just stayed in my dorm without anyone, so it was really boring. I never even got a chance to talk to Allen after the break-up, which was something I was really glad for. 

***

Early morning of the second day of Spring Break, I was hungry for food and the dorm absolutely had none. I completely forgot to buy any food or supplies. My stomach was starting to talk to me, saying that if it weren't fed, it'd die on me. The only choice I had was to go down to their dorm and ask for food…that was very hard for me. I had to swallow my pride and face him again. I just hoped he wasn't there.

I walked to the elevator wearing my pj's. There were no people in the lobby of our floor. I finally got to their room and knocked quietly on the door. I waited a while and no one opened the door. I tried once again, louder this time, and Van opened it. 

"Hey." His eyes widened at seeing me. 

"Hi." I said shyly. "Is he here?" I asked quietly. 

"No, he went on vacation." He replied. "You looking for him?" 

"No, no." I smiled and went in. "Thank God he's not here." 

He looked surprised. "Ok…" 

"The thing is…I have no food in my dorm and I'm really hungry." 

"Why didn't you buy last night?" 

"I forgot." I mumbled. 

"Oh." 

I followed him back to his room and saw that it was still kept neat. "You kept your promise." I smiled happily. "Thank you." 

"It wasn't hard." He winked. "Listen, I'm gonna go back to sleep, ok? I got one more hour." 

"Do you mind if I eat some of your stuff?" 

"I've always minded, but you eat it anyway." 

"Right." I closed his door and walked to the kitchen. 'I wonder why Van didn't go anywhere.' 

I didn't want to go back to my apartment, so I stayed at his. I watched some TV while snacking on some toast and pancakes. He finally woke up and went to the bathroom first. When he was freshened up, he glanced at me.

"Wow, you did eat a lot." 

"Yep." I grinned. "I made some pancakes for you. It's in the microwave." 

"Thanks." He smiled. 

"It's your stuff." I shrugged and kept watching. 

He brought the pancakes to the living room and sat beside me. "How come you didn't go anywhere?" I asked him. 

"Don't know." He shrugged his shoulders. "My folks don't really care. As long as I go back for summer, they're fine with me staying here during other holidays." 

"Even Christmas?" 

"Yeah." 

"Wow." I looked at the TV again. "Don't you miss your family, though?" 

"Sure." 

I scoffed. 

"How about you?" He asked, nudging me. 

"I wanted to go back to my family, but after the break-up………I really wasn't in the mood to go anywhere." 

"I understand." 

I hesitated a while until I just had to ask him. "Van?" 

"Yeah?" 

"When I broke up with Allen, I didn't break up with you, did I?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, staring at me confusingly. 

"It's just that…you're my friend too, and I-I…I enjoy coming here. So…do you mind if I stay here…with you everyday? It gets so boring in the apartment without anybody to talk to." 

"I like having you here." He grinned. "You're nice company." 

"Good, it's good, not nice." 

He laughed. "Mean the same." 

"Not the right grammar, though." I smiled. "Thanks." 

"Yep." 

I stared at the TV for the longest time. And I got pretty bored.

"Let's go out, k?" I asked. "After I change." 

"Go out?" 

"Yeah. Let's go to the mall." I grinned. 

He laughed. "Uh, no." 

"What? Why not?"

"I'm a guy. So you see…guys don't go to malls with girls." 

"Oh I realize that, but see, this girl," I pointed to myself, "doesn't take long to shop." 

"Oh I see." He smiled. "But listen, that's a lie." 

I pouted. "Fine, it is, but come on, Van! I don't have anybody to go with! And it's gonna be so boring if you stay here all by yourself!" 

He sighed. "I'd rather watch TV than hang out in the mall." 

"But we're not going to hang out in the mall." I persuaded. "I just need to buy a few things." 

"How long?" 

"Um…no more than an hour."

"Well…" 

"Van, please!" 

He stared at me, deciding. 

I smiled my most charming smile. 

He sighed. "Fine, fine. Happy?" 

"Yes." I grinned. "I'll be back." 

***

When it was 12:30pm, I decided to go back to my dorm and change into more appropriate clothes. Then I went back up. I knocked on the door and Van opened it. He looked…wow. He wore a pair of baggy jeans, which he looked so hunky in and a silver Nike shirt. He smelled so nice too. 

"Hey." I smiled nervously. 

"'Ey. Let's go." He got out of the room and locked the door. 

"Ok." 

***

We walked together to the nearby mall. "All right, so I'm timing you. I'm gonna go to the Entertainment store and you meet me there in an hour." 

"Wait a second." I stopped. "You're not coming with me?" 

"I'm already going to the mall with you! What more do you want?" 

"Fine." I sighed. "I'll just meet you there then." I said silently. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that." He put a hand on my shoulder. 

"Really now?" I squinted my eyes at him. 

He laughed and backed off. "Seriously." 

"Ok fine." I grinned. 

"I'm going." He started to walk. 

"Bye, Van." I called.

"See ya." 

***

I went to the stores I needed to go to. In the end, I held 4 bags, but they weren't heavy. I bought a pair of shoes, two shirts, one blouse, and two pairs of jeans, a few cosmetics, and two CDs. I found the Entertainment store Van was talking about and looked for him through the glass. 

I went in and walked over to him. "Van." I called quietly. 

He turned around and grinned. "You're back." 

"Right on time." 

"Ok. Just let me buy this." 

"What is it?" 

"CD." 

"CD of?" 

"It's a CD, all right?" 

I decided to back off. 

***

When he finished paying, we went to a nearby bench. "Can we go back to the school? I just need to put these bags down and we can go do something else." 

"Yeah ok." 

I stood up, but he had no intention to. "Van...!" 

"Yeah?" 

"Aren't you coming back with me?" 

"No." He gave me that look. "You're going back to put your stuff down. I only got this CD with me." 

"Ugh, fine. Leave me out on the streets. If I get kidnapped, I'm blaming you." I muttered. 

"Fine, I'm going with you." He stood up quickly.

That surprised me. "Oh…ok." 

"Although I have a hard time thinking you'll get kidnapped. You're a 22-year-old woman." 

"So? There are such things as drunk guys or rapists." 

"You got a point." 

"Thank you." 

I put my bags down in my room and he put his CD in his room. We met at the first floor lobby and went out again. The sun seemed to be getting sunnier by the hour. It was pretty outside. The flowers were blooming and the grasses were freshly cut. 

"So what is your CD?" I asked. 

"Lay off, will you?" He asked back. 

"Come on. It's not that hard to just say it." I nudged again. 

He sighed, irritated. "It's a Shakira CD, all right?" He got so red. 

I giggled. "Okay!"

"She's got a nice voice, that's all." He defended. 

I laughed again. "Whatever you say." 

"Fine, she's hot." 

I looked up at his reddened face. "Your secret's safe with me. No one will know." 

He glanced at me. "It's not a secret." 

"Oh?" 

"A lot of guys like her." He muttered. "I just happen to be………one of them." 

I giggled. 

Then he changed the subject. "Where are we going now?" Van asked. 

"You want to go to the park?" 

"Why not." 

***

The park was about 2 blocks away from our school, but you could see it clearly. There were a lot of kids playing around and many people relaxing. I even saw some people I knew from school. 

"There are too many people." Van complained. 

"I know, but it'll be fun." I smiled. 

"I don't like kids." 

"You were a kid once." 

"So? I didn't like me when I was a kid." 

"Why don't you like kids?" 

"They're annoying and bratty." 

"Not all of them." 

"Sure. You think that now." 

"Van…they're not that bad." I insisted. 

"Ah well." 

***

We got to the park and walked along the grass. There were a lot of picnic tables and we could smell the roasting of barbecued pork. The playgrounds were filled with so many kids. The water park beside it was full of little kids running around in bathing suits. 

"I want to be a kid again." I murmured. 

"Why??" 

"I don't know. It seems fun to be just…carefree. No problems to worry about…" 

"But being a kid means you can't be independent." 

"Sure, but still." I glanced at the basketball court. "Hey, you should play." 

"Play what?" 

"Basketball." 

He smirked. "Nah." 

"Why not?" 

"Those kids are too young for me." 

"So?" 

"It wouldn't be fair. I'd get the advantage."

"I see." 

"Let's just go walk around." 

"Ok." I smiled. I was glad that he was willing to go to the park with me and walk around. 

***

I glanced around. "What are you going to do after college?" 

"I…I, uh, I guess I'll be a Computer Programmer. Those are the courses I'm taking, so…yeah." 

"You don't sound sure of it." I looked up at him. 

He let out a regretful laugh. "I'm not. My parents forced me to do it." 

"How come?" 

"My dad's a programmer and he's really successful. I guess they thought that if I took it too, I'd be successful like him." 

"But you don't like doing it?" 

"Nope. Never was interested in computers." 

"Didn't you ever try telling them that it wasn't the thing for you?" 

He glanced at me. "Why so curious?" 

I smiled lightly. "I don't know." 

He watched me for one more second and then he continued. "I tried a lot of times to tell them that this wasn't what I wanted to do, but they always found a way to ignore it. They kept saying that it didn't matter, just as long as you were successful and you got a lot of money, the job didn't matter." 

"That's harsh." 

"Yeah I know." He reached for a leaf on the tree. "Just thinking of…working on computers the rest of my life, it scares me. I'll never be able to enjoy what I'm doing, which sucks."

"Sorry, Van." 

"Ah well. Someday, maybe I'll start liking it." He paused. "How about you? What are you going to do after college?" 

"I'm going to be a Computer Animator." I nodded. "I always wanted to do something in computers and animation."

"That's a good choice." 

"I made it a long time ago." 

"Lucky your parents didn't force you." 

"I guess so." I looked up at him. "I'm sorry your parents made your decision." 

"I got over it a long time ago." He looked at me too.  

"Are you planning to leave the city after you graduate?" 

"Uh…not sure. If I find a job here, then I don't think so…but you never know. You?" 

"Yeah." I smiled. "I always wanted to go back to Japan and get a job there…near my family."

"So you got a close-knit family, huh?" 

"You could say that." I laughed.

***

Later on, we walked by the grassy fields. "I got an idea." He grinned and took my hand. "Come on." 

"Where are we going?" We walked to the water park. 

I then knew what he was going to do. I tried prying my hand off. "Van, no! Van…no!!" 

"Come on, Hitomi! It'll be fun!!" He kept on pulling me. 

"No!! Please don't!" I begged as I laughed. "No!!" 

"If you don't come with me, I'll be forced to carry you!" 

My eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare!" 

"Try me!" He had a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. 

"Aah, Van no!!" 

The next thing I knew he picked me up and started carrying me towards the water park. "No! Van, put me down this instant!!" I yelled. 

"You said you wanted to be a kid again!!" 

"I didn't mean it!!" I protested. "Put me down!" 

"No way!!" 

Suddenly, I felt cold water hit my bare arms. I shut my eyes and covered my face, and then I felt him put me down. I looked up and saw that we were indeed in the middle of the water park. Kids were running around us. I heard Van's deep laughing from one side. I felt my clothes getting soaked from head to toe. 

"Aah! Van, you suck!!" I couldn't help but laugh at what he did. I attempted to punch him, but he took a hold of my wrists.

"Hey relax! Have fun! This is probably the only time we get to have fun till we gotta go back to class!" He pulled me close and I wanted to run. 

"I'm getting wet!!" I wiped my face.

"You think I'm not?"

I looked up at him and saw his beautiful eyes. I felt almost breathless. "No…" 

He wiped a hair away from my eyes. "It's just water…"  

"Mm-hmm…" 

After at least…a good 20 seconds of staring, I felt him wrap his arms around my waist. Oblivious to everything, I put my arms around his neck and leaned up slowly. He was starting to lean down to me while pulling me closer to him. Suddenly, I felt something push my legs and his too. 

"What the hell…?" He whispered. 

I glanced down and saw two kids, no more than 5, pushing us. I gasped and stared at them. "What are you guys doing?"

"You have to move! You're stepping on our house!" 

Van and I stared down at our feet and saw a huge circle drawn with chalk. There was a house in the middle. 

"Oh gosh, we're sorry." I grinned. "We didn't see it." 

"It's okay." They showed toothy smiles. 

Van and I moved away, and I felt embarrassed. My cheeks were too pink for their own good and I could see his cheeks were light pink. He seemed to be staring at me and I felt very nervous under his gaze. My heart was beating loudly. I couldn't believe what we were about to do. That was the second time something was going to happen…

"Uh…" He started. 

"Van…" I walked over to him.

"Yeah?" He asked quietly, looking at me. 

"Um…" I blushed heavily. "This might not be the best time to tell you this…but…" 

"What?" 

"I'm cold."  

His eyes widened. "Oh. Um…my clothes are wet too. You want to go back to the dorm and change?" 

I suddenly felt shy. "Is it ok?" 

"Yeah." He grinned. "I wanna change too." 

Someway or another, that grin of his always made me feel so happy…even when I was at my worst, I'd feel content.

***

We walked together back to the school. "I had fun." I laughed. "Thank you." 

He grinned. "Told you it'd be fun." 

***

The next two days we enjoyed so much. We went anywhere we could and sometimes we played basketball or volleyball, but it was really fun. I had a great time. The only thing was I was afraid of what I was feeling towards him. It was only about 4 days since Allen and I broke up and already I was crushing on someone else. 

We were walking back to the dorm and it was 9pm. The streets were fairly dark and I was getting cold. I shivered automatically and glanced at the houses. "You cold?" Van asked. 

"I-I'm fine." I smiled up at him.

"You don't look it." 

"It is cold, you know." I looked down. 

Suddenly I felt his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. "Feel better?" 

I looked up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you." 

It was almost hard to see the pink tint in his cheeks. "No problem." 

***

We got to the dorm and we went up to my room first. "I'll see you tomorrow." Van grinned at me.

I blushed under his smile. "Ok. Thank you for today. I had fun." 

"Yeah me too."  

I fidgeted. 

"Well…I'm going to go." He said. 

I looked up and nodded. "Bye Van." 

"Bye Hitomi." 

The next thing I knew, he kissed me lightly on the cheek and left. I felt so hot and I almost didn't stop touching my cheek. His lips felt so…so wonderful on my skin…I couldn't help but wish that I would get to feel his lips on mine.

_~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~_


	4. Part 3

**Part 3**

The day after, I took a quick shower. When I got out, I changed into some comfortable clothes and hiked to the elevator to take me to Van's dorm. I was starting to knock on the door, but he opened it. I almost hit his face with my fist. 

"Oops." I smiled ashamedly and lowered my hand. "Hi." 

"Hey…uh…I was just…uh…" 

"What's going on?" I asked, trying to peek in. 

"Uh…I got…a…" 

"Van, who's there?" A high voice called from the living room. 

I didn't know why but my heart just stopped. "You've got a girl in there." I mumbled, looking dumbstruck. 

"Yeah…" 

I looked down. "I'm sorry, I-I-I didn't know." 

"No, you don't need to-"

"I'm going to go." I finally looked up at him. "Bye." 

"Hitomi, wait-" 

I waved one last time and walked away. 

This hurt me a lot more than the break-up, but tears wouldn't come. I felt really…I don't know…I guess ashamed…embarrassed…humiliated…and of course sad. That's when it hit me. I held feelings for Van and the feelings that I did hold…they were a lot deeper than what I felt for Allen. This realization didn't surprise me, but it hurt me so much. 

All this time, I didn't even know he was the one. I was too blind to see it. His smile made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside, his eyes melted my heart…and I felt so bad. Then the tears came. Slowly, one by one, droplets flowed down. He was way too sweet for his own good. He was there when I really needed him, he made me laugh when I was down, and…I don't know…I guess he was everything I looked for in a guy. 

***

The next day seemed pretty boring to me. I stayed in my dorm and I decided never to leave unless I had no choice. If I never had Van in the first place, I felt that I didn't have the right to complain and cry about losing him to another girl. 

I was eating some potato chips that I bought early that day. The TV was on, but I wasn't paying attention to the show. Then something happened in the show that made me freak out. I guessed that I was watching a scary movie. My eyes flitted to the screen and I saw a really…the scariest vampire I had ever seen my entire life. I started to whimper, but it wouldn't go away. The next thing I knew, more vampires came and attacked the poor girl. She was half-naked while they sucked on her neck. 

I shut my eyes and looked away. I then heard someone knock on the door. That just scared me right there. My heart jumped. I decided to stay on the couch and just ignore it, see if the person would just leave. But the knocking continued. I didn't say anything…I guess the show had that impact on me. 

I heard that wonderful deep voice and all my fears went away. "Hitomi, come on, I need to talk to you." 

'It's Van.' My mind thought instantly. I slowly walked to the door after turning off the TV of course, and opened it. "Hi." I smiled forcefully. 

"Don't smile if you don't want to." He muttered. "Can I come in?" 

I frowned. "Yeah." I opened the door wider and he went in. 

"So what were you doing in here?" He asked, surveying the room. 

"Um…nothing…just watching TV and pigging out." I said innocently.

"Uh…the TV's off." 

"Hehe. I think it turns off by itself." 

"Ok…" He started to turn on the TV. 

"NO!" I almost yelled out. 

"What?" 

"I mean, um, the TV, well…" 

He turned it on and the vampires started screeching. I turned around and whimpered quietly. 

"It's off." He called. 

"I don't believe you…" I mumbled, my eyes still shut. 

I felt his hands on my shoulders and there was a little tingle in my heart. I breathed silently and turned around. His eyes were huge and so beautiful. I felt small under his gaze. 

"So you were telling the truth." 

"I was." He said quietly. "I need to talk to you." 

"About?" I asked fearfully. 

"About this thing…between us." 

"Oh." 

I took a seat on the couch and he sat beside me. I looked down at my hands at all times. We were facing each other, but I was too afraid to look at him...I felt that I'd start to cry just watching him. 

"I guess I'll talk first." He started. 

I nodded. 

"Uh…the thing is…that girl you heard…uh…she's this girl who keeps bothering me…" 

"Mm-hmm."

"She wanted to get back with me…and…uh…we were in the middle of talking and you knocked." 

"I'm sorry I really didn't mean to." I said. 

"No that's not what I'm saying." He paused. "I said no to her."

I then looked up at him. "How come?" 

"I'm interested in someone else." 

"Oh." I looked down again. "So…what does this have to do with me?" 

"I-I…kind of-"

Someone knocked on the door. "Hitomi, it's me Allen." 

"Shit." I heard Van mutter under his breath. 

I felt the same way. I groaned inwardly. "Sorry." I whispered as I passed by him and opened the door. 

"Allen." I fixed my hands on my hips and frowned at him. "You're back." 

"Yeah, uh, I was thinking of stuff, and uh..." He glanced in and saw Van. "Van…?" 

I glanced back at Van and he stood up. "Hey man." 

"What are you doing in Hitomi's place?" 

"We were just talking." He shrugged. "Uh…I just remembered I got to do something. I'll talk to you later." He told me and smiled forcefully at Allen. "Nice seeing you again, buddy." 

"Yeah, ok." Allen looked really confused. 

***

When Van left, Allen went in. I absolutely gave him no right to go in, but he did. I mentally slapped a picture of his face in my head and closed the door. 

"What is it that you want?" I asked, irritated. 

He turned and faced me. "We were together for a really long time." 

"So?" 

He sighed. "I realized something when I left." 

"And what was that?" 

He took a deep breath. "I'm still in love with you." 

That blew me away. "Whoa…" I felt light-headed. 

I sat on the nearest chair and looked down. My mind was jumbled…all my thoughts were mixed. 'Oh my god…why did he just tell me that??' I closed my eyes and then looked up at him angrily. 

"Why are you telling me this?" 

"What?" He stopped. "Because-"

"I so don't need that right now." I rubbed my temples. "You just realized it now?? Are you stupid or something??" 

"I'm not! Hitomi…I know I sound like a jerk and I know I am, but I'm being honest right now. It was a stupid thing that I did. I'm still in love with you and I shouldn't have broken up with you." 

"Wait a second." I interrupted. "Tell me the reason you broke up with me again." 

"Well I-"

"You were in love with Millerna! All right, so I dealt with that. I totally understood what you were telling me. I respected your honesty and I left you all alone! I didn't try to be mean and rude towards her, because no matter what, she'd always be my friend. So now I don't get why the hell you're telling me that you love me!" 

He looked helpless. Then he looked down at the carpet. "I don't know why I felt that way. I am in love with Millerna…but I'm also in love with you…" 

"No." I stopped him and stood up. "You are not in love with me. You are feeling regret for hurting me so much! That's all!! It's called GUILT!" 

"It's not!! Look, I am in love with you!!" 

"Stop it!" I yelled. "Shut the hell up, Allen! I've had enough!! You broke my heart once and I will not get my heart broken twice! You can't be in love with two people at once! That's just stupid!! And I'm telling you now to stop feeling what you're feeling for me, because it's not real! You don't love me and you didn't for 2 months." 

He walked furiously towards me and looked down at me. He was so close to my face our lips almost touched. 

"Damn it, you listen to me now. I know I made a mistake. I admit to it, but I'm not wrong about this. When I left to go for vacation, all I could think about was you. I didn't once think of Millerna…you were in my mind the whole time. At first I thought it was because I felt guilty for doing that to you. I thought that I was the worst person in the world for hurting the one person I loved." He put his hand around my cheek. "When I lost you…I then realized that you meant so much to me. I love you, Hitomi, and I'm so sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for making you cry…but I'm not wrong about this. I-I…I want us to work again. Please…" 

Tears were already going down. I almost wanted to forgive him and take him back, but something was stopping me. I looked down and pulled away. I faced away from his hand. I shook my head many times and I couldn't stop feeling something in my heart pulling me back.

"No." I said quietly, and then louder. "No." I hesitated for a while. 

"I loved you so much, Allen. I gave you my whole heart…and in return, I got a quarter of yours. The thing is I'm not going to fall for the same thing twice. Nothing you'll say will make me feel in love with you ever again. I can't do that. Just thinking that you're in love with Millerna too…I feel like a player. It's like you're playing with both of our hearts and you think that you can have either one of us…but no…not anymore. I won't let you have me. You got me and you let go of me. That was your mistake." I paused. "If your love for him dies, he's not the one." I remembered a quote I heard somewhere. "I don't love you anymore. I think I fell out of love for you when you forgot my birthday. I know it was an honest mistake, but…" I shrugged. "And listen, I was so ready to take you back just now. Something's pulling me back…" 

He kept quiet. 

"And I think I know what it is." I whispered and stared down. "I-I'm falling in love with someone else, Allen." 

I almost heard his surprise. "You are?" 

I nodded and let the tears fall. "When you were gone, he was here with me…and he gave me what I needed. Even before that, he was always there…but I just didn't notice him. It might be too early to see if I do love him, but I know for sure I'm falling in love with him. No matter how I looked or how I felt, he accepted me and comforted me. A simple smile that crosses his face makes me feel happy even when I'm at my lowest…" 

"Who is he?" He said in a really pained voice. 

"Does it really matter?" I said quietly. "My heart's pulling back. I know that we only broke up a week ago…but that was the only time I needed to find _him." _I said it more confidently. "So you see?" 

He nodded sadly. "I guess I was too late huh?"

"Way too late." I replied and looked up at him. 

He nodded again. "Well…" He looked at me. "I hope you're happy though." 

"I am." I smiled lightly through the tears. 

"Ok." He walked towards the door and opened it. "I'll see you." 

"Yeah." 

The door clicked shut and I stared at my shadow for a while. I stayed there standing and I didn't want to do anything. After maybe 15 minutes, the door opened. I looked up slowly and saw Van giving me an apologetic smile. I shook my head and walked over to him. 

"You okay?" He asked quietly. 

"I'll be fine." 

He pulled me close and I hugged him tightly. That was all I needed and he gave it to me. 

***

Later, he and I sat in the living room. I told him about what happened. I felt so glad that even though he didn't say much, he listened. 

"What did he say to you?" I asked quietly, drawing lines on the couch. 

"He told me the gist of it. Said you were in love with someone else." He hesitated. "So are you?"  

I looked up and blushed. "I am."

"Oh." He looked a little hurt, which puzzled me. "So who is he?" 

"You don't need to know." I said, smiling. 

"I don't?" 

I shook my head. "You'll find out after Spring Break." 

"Fair enough." He gave me a grim look. "Anyway, it was pretty surprising, huh?" 

"Big surprise." I rested my head on the couch and glanced up at Van. "So what were you going to say to me before he knocked on the door?" 

His eyes widened in surprise. "Oh uh…" 

"Go ahead." I urged. 

"Well…um…" He shook his head finally. "No, it's nothing important." 

"It seemed like it." 

"No, it's not." He nodded. "I'm sure." 

"Ok." I gave him a confused look and smiled. "Thanks for being here." 

"No big deal. After what he did to you, I don't think I want to be in the same room with the guy." 

I hugged him tightly. "I didn't know you meant so much to me until the recent events." 

He laughed. I felt my heart jump eagerly. He hugged me back. "Same here." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	5. Part 4

**Part 4**

The next day Millerna came. She looked a little more filled, which was really good. That way Van wouldn't be teasing her and calling her 'anorexic' anymore. She brought many things from home and gave me lots of treats. I was showered with food and I was glad my best friend came from a very food-filled city. 

"How was your Spring Break?" I asked. "Was it fun seeing your family and friends again?"

She laughed. "I had the best time!! The whole week we had gourmet dinners! They're absolutely the best!! As you can see," she posed like a model, "my body has filled in many places." 

I laughed. "Lucky! With all that food..." I put my fist up playfully. "What else??" 

"Well, I saw my ex-boyfriend. He was so much more handsome than I remembered, but of course, my heart was already taken by...um..." 

"It's ok, Millerna." I assured her. "Keep going." 

Her lips turned into a smile again. "I saw all my friends back in high school and it was a lot of fun seeing them. One of my friends already had 2 kids. It was really weird seeing her settled down at such a young age, but she was so responsible, even before high school." 

I grinned.

"I just had the best time." She grinned. "How about you? How was your break staying here?" 

"It was a lot of things." I started. "Sometimes great, sometimes horrible, and sometimes it was worth it." 

"So was Allen here?" 

"No. I'm glad. He left…for vacation." I looked away. "Van was here though." 

"Really?"

"Yeah." 

"Let me guess, you went up to their dorm and ate their food?" 

I smiled meekly. "I couldn't help it…but the thing is, Van and I got to spend a lot of time together." I blushed heavily.

She finally caught on. "Ohh." She sat beside him. "So you…?" 

I nodded. 

She squealed and hugged me. "That's terrific. I knew you guys made a perfect couple. I always knew he liked you from the beginning." 

"Whoa, wait a second." I stopped her. "We're not dating if that's what you're saying." 

"Wait a minute, what?" 

"Van, he and I, we're not dating." 

"But I thought you said-"

"I didn't say that." 

"Oh." She looked confused. "So what are you saying?" 

"I-I…I think I'm in love with him, Millerna." 

She squealed once again. "Good for you honey!!" 

"Not really." I mumbled. "He likes someone else." 

"No he doesn't!! He likes you, ok?? Too bad you don't see his reactions whenever he sees you. I felt so jealous of you before, cause I knew he liked you."

I turned even redder. "He doesn't like me. You're just saying that 'cause you're my friend." 

"I am not!" She looked insulted. "I'm telling you. He likes you too." 

"Hardly." I gave her a modest look. 

***

I decided to go up and see him that afternoon, but I was afraid Allen would open the door. I hesitated a bit, but finally got the courage to go. I knocked carefully and to my misfortune, Allen opened it. 

"Oh hey." He gave me that unsure look.

"Hi." I mumbled. "Is Van here?" 

"Van?" His eyes filled with pain. "You're looking for him…?" 

I fidgeted. "Yeah." 

"Hitomi…" He held my arm. "A-are you and Van…?" 

My eyes widened and I looked up at him. "No, we're not together." 

"Oh." He moved away. "Uh, yeah, he's in his room." 

"Ok." I replied and went in.  

I knocked on Van's door. "I never knew you as a knocker, man." He replied.

"It's not Allen." I said silently. 

He then opened the door and stared at me with surprise. "Hitomi." 

I smiled nervously. "Hi." 

"I'm really sorry, I-I thought-"

"It's ok." I stopped him before he could go on anymore. "Can I come in?" 

I saw his eyes travel to someone behind me and I looked back, knowing it was Allen. I felt almost guilty, but not really. I looked away and glanced up at Van. 

"I-I…well…if it's okay with-"

"It's all right with me." Allen interrupted. "We're not together anymore." He said it in a pissed off way that made me mad. 

"Why say it like that?" I asked him, turning around. 

"Say it like what? That it's just my fault we're not together?" He glared at me. 

That did it. "So it's all my fault. That's what you're saying." I walked to him and slapped him on the cheek. "Don't dare say that to my face, you bastard. Was I the one who cheated? Who fell in love with someone else? Was I the one who forgot my own birthday?" 

"I apologized-"

"NO!" I disrupted. "I'm done with you, Allen. The only reason I came by here was to talk to Van and I really did not want to talk to you at all."

I slowly turned to face Van. "I guess I'll talk to you later, ok?" I spoke silently. 

"Hitomi, wait." 

I shook my head. "I can't be in the same room with him anymore." 

"I said wait." Van grabbed my arm and pulled me with him to his room, which took me by surprise. "Stay in here." He replied and closed the door. 

"Wha-? What the hell???" I practically screamed. 

***Allen and Van's conversation***

_"Nice going, Allen." Van muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. _

_"I didn't mean to do that." He replied. "Just-well…seeing her made me so mad…" _

_"So, what_…_you don't want to see her anymore?" _

_He looked away. "It's not that I don't want to see her anymore_…_I don' t want to see her here with you." _

_Van stared incredulously at Allen. "Are you saying I can't see her?" _

_He looked mad. "She was my girlfriend, Van. You can't date her." _

_"Why the hell do you keep saying that? Just 'cause she goes to me instead of you doesn't mean we're dating. And…you're not together anymore, Allen."_

_Allen looked away, feeling tears. _

_"Face it man…you busted it." _

_He finally looked at Van with slightly red eyes. "Do you like her, Van?" _

_"Want the truth?" _

_"What do you think?"  _

_"Uh…yeah. I'm…uh…downright in love with the girl." _

_"She loves you too?" _

_"Nah." He laughed awkwardly. "Says she's in love with someone else." _

_"Ah." Allen glanced away. "Anyway…uh…just tell her that I'm, uh, sorry." _

_"Why don't you tell her for yourself?" _

_"No…she doesn't want to see my face after that." Allen looked at his bedroom. "I'll be in there." _

_Van nodded. _

***Normal POV***

I sat on his bed and looked out the window, placing my hands under my chin. I heard the door open and turned to face him. He gave me the most beautiful smile and I looked down. 

"What happened?" I asked quietly. 

"Uh…" He sat beside me. "I just had to talk to him." 

I nodded. "Van…" 

"Yeah?" 

I moved closer to him and rested my head on his chest. "Thank you." 

"For?" He put his arms around me. 

"He's your best friend and I…well…you stood up for me." 

"He needed to learn." He kissed my forehead. "You all right?" 

"Mm-hmm." I looked up at him. "I don't think I can come here anymore." 

"Because of…that?" 

"Yeah." I replied. "I still want to come visit you, but I don't want to…see his face…not yet anyway." 

He nodded. "Ok." 

***

The next day, classes began once again after Spring Break. Remembering what I promised Van, I chose to just go up at his room, even though it hurt seeing Allen, and ask him to walk with me at night. But I still had a whole day of classes to think of it. 

First class back, I quickly went to my desk. Van sat behind me and poked me on the back. I turned around and smiled. We both hated classes, but still found the fun in them. 

"So do I get to know who it is?" He asked. 

I was surprised. "Who?" 

"The guy you fell in love with." He replied, mocking me. 

I glared at him. "I'll tell you later." 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah." I nodded. "Besides…it's not like it'll help with you knowing." 

"I don't know…maybe I can set you up with this guy." 

I frowned and turned back around. "You can't." 

"What'd you say?" He asked, not hearing what I said. 

I shook my head. "It was nothing." 

"All right…" He gave me that concerned look. 

I ignored it and went on with the lecture. 

***

The whole day he kept badgering me, asking questions about the guy. I practically gave him the full detail of his appearance, but being as dense as he was, he still didn't get it. Finally, the plans I had made early in the morning had gone away. I was stuck with one option and that was to tell him at that moment. 

It was our free block and we decided to walk outside of the school by the garden. 

"I don't get why I have to tell you who I like when you don't even tell me who you like." I said silently.

"That's 'cause I don't like her anymore." He said. 

"Really?" I began to feel hopeful.

"Yep. I don't like anyone." 

Then my hopes drained away. "You don't?" 

"Nah…I'm thinking it's better to just go on your own. That way, you won't have to worry about falling in love." 

"Y-you don't want to fall in love?" 

"I do." He said. "Just…not now. I mean, look at what happened with you and Allen. It broke." 

"But that's because we fell out of love for each other." I mumbled. 

"So how do you know if this guy you say you're in love with…you won't fall out of love with him?" 

That pretty much scared me. "Gee…I didn't think of it that way." 

"Yeah see? People say that there's only one person out there in the world for you. What if this person you're meant to be with…doesn't love you? What if you and him fell out of love?" 

I looked at my intertwined fingers. "If he was really the one for you, he'd love you no matter what." 

"You're…well…yeah you got a point. But who's to say you won't fall out of love with him? Remember…you loved Allen a lot. You thought he was the one for you, but…you started not loving him." 

"I was wrong." I interrupted. "People make mistakes." 

"That's right, but who's to say you won't make the same mistake again?" 

I looked up at him and frowned. "Why are you doing this?" 

"Doing what?" 

"Why are you making me feel bad??" I put my hands on my hips. "Why are you scaring me, Van?" 

"I'm not scaring you!" He replied. "At least I'm not trying to! I'm just telling you what I think." 

"Well it is scaring me." I muttered. 

"I-I…well…then I'm sorry." 

I sighed. "I guess…I don't really know now if I love him or not." 

"The guy?" 

"Yeah." I whispered. "I don't have the guarantee that I'll be in love with him for the rest of my life." 

"True." 

"And I'm not even sure if I'll keep loving him forever…I don't even know if he's the guy I'm meant to be with." 

"Hitomi…wait…" 

I shook my head. "I can't just say that I'm in love with him when I…" I looked up at Van. "But can I tell you something?" 

"Yeah."

"It's just that…well…" I kept staring at his eyes. "When I see him smile, I feel like I'm in heaven. I feel like he's my angel and he'll always be there to protect me…keep me safe. His eyes are so…" I felt slight tears and blinked away. "Trusting and honest…that I can't help myself from melting into them. He's there whenever I need him…" 

"Hitomi-"

"So from this…how should I know if I'm in love or not?" I mumbled. I turned away from him. "I guess I'm just…I'm just being too…too desperate." I took a deep breath. "I-I don't think I can tell you who the guy is…" 

***

That night, I heard someone knock on our door. I didn't feel like opening it. I stayed in my bed and stared out the window. Then my door opened. I buried my head on my pillow and shook my head. In a muffled voice, I said, "I'm not feeling good, Millerna." But she didn't do anything. I then felt strong hands on my shoulders. 

I looked up and stared at those mesmerizing eyes. I pouted and sat up. "What is it?" I asked quietly. 

"I couldn't keep…I just…I felt bad." He muttered. "I didn't mean to make you…feel…scared or anything…" 

"No, it's ok." I smiled forcefully.

"I need to tell you the reason I did that." He said silently. 

"Oh…" I looked down. "So you had a reason." 

"Yeah." 

"Ok." 

He closed his eyes for a second and then looked at me. "I guess, uh…I was just…trying to scare you, because…" 

I was confused. 

"All right. Uh…I…well…" He was stuttering. 

"Van, it's ok." I put my hand on his arm. "Relax." 

He gave me a short smile, but it was enough to ease my heart. "I need to get this out." 

"Get what out?" 

He took my hand in his and brought it up to his lips. Then I felt a tingle run down my arm to my spine as soon as he put my hand down, still in his. 

"I did that because…I didn't want you to fall in love with him." He gave a wry smile. "That was low of me, but I did it. I shouldn't have…done it, because I knew it would scare you. I felt that, uh, well…this guy you fell in love with wasn't worth it." He whispered. "I don't even know who he is, but…you shouldn't be in love with him." 

"How come?" I asked quietly. 

"Because." He muttered, playing with my fingers. 

I looked down at my hands and moved closer to him. "Ok. I'll tell you who the guy is…and you tell me if he's worth it…" 

He looked up at me. "So you're still…?" 

I stared into his eyes. "Yes. After what you said…it didn't really change my mind…at first, I thought it would, but…I don't know, my heart's just not listening to what my head's saying." 

He let out a small laugh. "All right…so who is this guy?" 

I then felt nervous. "Ok…" I closed my eyes and then stared up at him. "He's…um…" 

"Yeah?" 

"Um…" I felt my voice squeak. "His name is…um…his name is Van Fanel."  

I felt him lose his breath. I looked down and stared at our entwined hands. I felt him pull my chin up. I finally glanced up at his eyes and he kissed me. It was gentle, but eager and full of tenderness. I let him kiss me and even responded back. After a little bit, we pulled away slightly and he stared into my eyes. 

"I didn't even know it was me." He whispered. 

I tried to keep my heart steady, but it didn't work. "So…do you think he's worth it?" 

He hesitated a bit. "I…yeah…he is." 

"Why?" I asked quietly. 

"Because…he's got one thing he needs to tell you." 

"And what is it?" 

"Hitomi…" He caressed my cheek. "I'm in love with you." 

"W-w-what?" 

"Yeah. I did that to you, because…I love you. You make me feel really special. And I know I shouldn't have scared you off like that, but I was jealous." He turned really red.

"So all you said…was just to keep me…from…loving… you?" 

"But I didn't know it was me!" He interrupted. "If I did, I wouldn't have done it." 

I smiled. "But you were…making a point when you said that this might not be the real thing." 

He nodded. "I know." 

"And who knows…if that's not going to happen to us." I referred to Allen and I. 

"I know. But it's worth a try, right?" He looked hopefully into my eyes. 

I hugged him tightly, burying my face on the nape of his neck. "I'm sure." 

"The thing is, Hitomi…I guess…I'm sure that I won't fall out of love for you." 

I pulled back. "What? How?" 

He grinned. "I've been loving you since the freshman year." 

"R-really?"

"Yeah." 

I could feel tears in my eyes. "Why?" I whispered. 

"Ever hear of 'love at first sight'?"  

I caught his lips in mine and kissed him whole-heartedly. He fell on his back and I ended up on top of him, but we still kept kissing until it was time to release for a breath. 

That was the only thing I needed to hear to _know that I'd love him forever. _

The End ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


End file.
